


I've known you before, in another time

by jaydenbell



Series: Too Right To Be Wrong (or, the endless reasons two people are meant for each other) [60]
Category: Glee
Genre: Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-31
Updated: 2011-08-31
Packaged: 2017-10-23 07:00:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/247502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaydenbell/pseuds/jaydenbell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shelby dies and Rachel is left raising Beth. And that's how Noah sees them for the first time in a few years...raising his daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I've known you before, in another time

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for a prompt at the drabble meme.

He had to do a double-take as he walked past the end of the aisle. Halfway down the row, he swore he saw someone he knew. Only, she was four years old. Last he checked, he didn’t actually know anybody that age in this town.

But that cute little girl sitting in the shopping cart playing with her mom’s purse struck something in him. Hard.

And then the tiny blonde’s mom turned around from where she was comparing prices on mixed fruit cups.

He nearly dropped his own groceries, balanced skillfully in one arm, and spun on his heel to make his way to her. “Rachel.” It came out a bit higher than he planned or expected; then again, he wasn’t expecting her.

She spun quickly and smiled excitedly. “Noah!” She jumped up on her toes and hugged him quickly, like they hadn’t just seen each other for the first time in four years. “Wow, I didn’t think I’d actually get to see you while I was in town. How are you?” She put a pack of peach fruit cups in the cart, where the little girl picked them up and turned them over and over, inspecting them.

“I’m great.” Not complete truth, but there was a lot of history to cover. “How are you? I see your dads in Temple once in a while, but they never mentioned you…had a family?”

Rachel shrugged a little sadly. “Well, small family.” She looked to the little girl who had taken interest in the man her mom was talking to now. “Just the two of us, huh, little bug?”

“He’s handsome,” the little girl pointed out.

Rachel laughed. Outright exploded with laughter that she couldn’t stop. “I’m sorry,” she covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. “It’s not you. You really are very handsome still.” She swallowed and took a breath, trying to regain her composure. “It’s just…ironic. The fact that she would find you handsome like I always did, or because of why she probably finds you so appealing.”

Noah shook his head, clearly confused.

Rachel sobered. “Noah. Wow, this is hard,” she searched for her thoughts. “I guess since you stayed here to help out your mom and Sarah, you never heard what happened in New York a few years ago. An accident. A…big accident. An entire city block…” she swallowed and blinked, her eyes looking really wet as she looked up at him now. “There were dozens of cars involved in a pile-up. It had been raining for days; nobody could stop fast enough.”

“Rachel, you’re kinda freaking me out.”

She blinked once more, a fat tear rolling down her cheek, but she never looked away from him. “Shelby Corcoran had moved to the city about the same time I moved there for school. She was killed in a car accident just after the end of my freshman year.” She bit her lip, glancing at the girl in the cart who was watching them intently. “Beth was with the baby sitter when it happened.”

Noah dropped the items that had been tucked between his arm and chest. “Beth?” He looked at the blonde child in the cart. On cue, she nodded, responding to her name.

And he realized why the little girl struck him so much. She looked so familiar, because she was familiar. She had Quinn’s beautiful smile, her eyes, her dirty-blonde hair. She had his nose and chin. She was absolutely gorgeous. His hand reached out cautiously, hoping Beth would accept it. She wrapped her small hand in his large one and smiled up at him.

Unsure if he was still listening, Rachel spoke softly. “Shelby and I had been spending time together, getting to know each other. We all saw each other on a nearly daily basis. After she died, I found out that she had listed me in her will to be guardian of Beth, should anything ever happen.”

He cleared his throat and smiled at Beth. “It’s nice to meet you, sweetheart.” She just beamed up at him.

Shaking off the surprise as much as he could, he bent down to pick up his groceries – a bag of carrots, a loaf of bread, an energy drink, a box of tampons. Rachel quirked an eyebrow at the last one. “Girlfriend?” There was a teasing quality to her voice now.

“Sarah. She has me more whipped than any other woman possibly could.”

Rachel laughed, and the tension was easing away. “It’s great that you’re still taking care of them. You’re a really great man, Noah.”

“I love ‘em. I’ll leave this town one day, but until then, it’s good to feel appreciated.”

Beth started bouncing in the cart, getting anxious at sitting, no longer interested in whatever they were talking about. “Mommy,” the little girl beamed at her with doe eyes.

“Just another minute, bug.”

“Bug?” Noah wondered.

“Little lady bug,” she shrugged. Pulling a slip of paper from her purse, she quickly wrote down her phone number. “Me and Beth stay with my dads for a month in the summers. We should get together. Catch up.”

He nodded once as he stuck the paper in his pocket. “Yeah. I’d like that,” he looked between Beth and Rachel once more. Then leaned down to Beth, his daughter. Rachel’s daughter. “Beth, it was nice to meet you. I’ll see you later, okay?”

She smiled. “Okay.”

“Rachel,” he paused. He didn’t know what he wanted to say. “Um, thanks.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek before turning to go. His mom and sister would wonder where he was eventually, and he had to make a clean break right now or he would never leave them. Even if he was going to see them again very, very soon.

And he wouldn’t let them get away again.


End file.
